'Squidward just wanted to live a quiet life': 30 Villains that were actually 100% in the right

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Dec 8, 2023 3:00 PM EST

The villain is the bad guy and thus, they're always wrong. Since we were wee tots digging around in the sandbox, the one thing that's been crystal clear is that once you're a villain or a bad guy, that's all you were ever good for. But as we've seen as we grew up, villains actually all have an origin story that turned them 'evil'. 

What if they're not evil after all? What if the villains of all these stories we've enjoyed over the last few decades are actually on to something? 

Well the hive mind of the Internet has come together and compiled a list of classic fictional villains who actually were 100% right. So next time you're looking at Mr. Freeze from the 1980's batman, think again about how a guy obsessed with reversing climate change and saving his dead wife is the 'bad guy'. Just because you have a heroic outfit, doesn't make you a hero. And just because you're a leather-clad 'villain', doesn't mean your evil. At least… not completely. 

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  • 01
    Posted by u/Druidwrothe 17 hours ago 2 What fictional villain do you think is actually right?
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  • 02
    AudiieVerbum 15 hr. ago . Ice Man in Top Gun. He was absolutely right. Maverick was dangerous. He was a threat to himself, his copilot, and every other friendly airplane out there. The Navy, and other aerial units, really really truly don't role that way. Ice Man was.the best pilot in the sky and every criticism he threw at Maverick was correct.
    via u/AudiieVerbum
  • 03
    figuringthingsout__. 13 hr. ago When people age, they start to realize that Squidward just wanted to live a quiet life, go home and play the clarinet in Bikini Bottom. ↑ 6.4k ↓ Reply Share Blue Eyes0408 - 12 hr. ago . Yes! Plus The Krusty Krab is a crappy place to work run by a cheap boss who tries to get free labor from his employees. Squidward has every right to be unhappy working there.
    via u/figuringthingsout__
  • 04
    N-E-B 14 hr. ago Mr. Lahey from Trailer Park Boys . Dealing with the people in Sunnyvale would be exhausting and in reality they would be seen as the bad guys.
    via u/N-E-B
  • 05
    JeffTheComposer. 15 hr. ago The shark from Jaws was just being a shark 4.5k Reply Share Pitiful-Pension-6535 15 hr. ago The villain in Jaws was the mayor though
    via u/JeffTheComposed
  • 06
    inform880 15 hr. ago Mr. Freeze. Just wanted to save his wife. 2.9k Reply Share squidboimushroomhead 12 hr. ago Even as a child watching the movie, I felt so bad for him the whole time. He was never a villain to me.
    via u/inform880
  • 07
    seashell_eyes_ . 14 hr. ago The older I get the more I relate more to Principal Vernon in The Breakfast Club. Most of those kids, especially Bender, were disrespectful jerks.
    via u/seashell_eyes_
  • 08
    Admirable_Ride_2253 · 12 hr. ago Captain Hook both from Disney's Peter Pan and Hook: he's not necessarily right but, Peter Pan isn't exactly a saint, either. 838 Reply Share Thin_Explanation7193 10 hr. ago I agree. That little green was a menace.
    via u/Admirable_Ride_2253
  • 09
    DoWeSellFrench Fries 13 hr. ago The wicked witch of the west. Dorothy inadvertently killed her sister, and then stole her shoes. The witch had every right to hate her.
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  • 10
    djOntCosmos 13 hr. ago Mewtwo 513 Reply Share malevshh 10 hr. ago ,,I see now that the circumstances of our birth are irrelevant. It is what we do with the gift of life that determines who we are." I cry everytime.
    via u/dj0ntCosmos
  • 11
    ToFaceA_god. 14 hr. ago Ultron. Dude was connected to the internet for half a second and said "Yeah, I'm killing them all." 4.1k Reply Share RemoveByFriction . 12 hr. ago In relation to this - Zemo. If I saw my whole family killed by the Avengers as collateral damage I'd probably want to murder them too.
    via u/ToFaceA_god
  • 12
    bizzywhipped 13 hr. ago Tom. From Tom & Jerry 432 . Reply Share Positive_Rip6519.8 hr. ago. edited 5 hr. ago Tom was never the villain. He was a house cat; he lived there. The owners of the house wanted him there. Jerry was a pest; an unwelcome intruder who broke into their home, stole their food, destroyed their property, and repeatedly attempted to murder their pet.
    via u/bizzywhipped
  • 13
    Careful-Swimmer-2658 12 hr. ago The traitor from the Matrix. "If it looks like steak, smells like steak and tastes like steak then that's good enough for me.". Given the choice of fake 1990s or real post- apocalypse wasteland I'll take the 90s thanks.
    via u/Careful-Swimmer-2658
  • 14
    Squirrelkid11 15 hr. ago The exterminator guy from The Ant Bully, dude was just trying to do his job to stop an insect infestation and yet gets attacked by an army of wasps and ants. M 336 Reply Share MeleeMode 11 hr. ago In defence of child me - he did really get a sick kick from it
    via u/Squirrelkid11
  • 15
    grandbelialspee. 17 hr. ago Magneto 1.7k ↓ Reply Share 4thofeleven 12 hr. ago . Magneto may not be 100% in the right, but in any version of the X- Men where Sentinels exist, it's kinda hard to argue that he's wrong about war against mutants being inevitable.
    via u/grandbelialspee
  • 16
    ChipCob1 12 hr. ago Wile E Coyote.... Roadrunner was a right 390 Reply Share MissDisplaced. 9 hr. ago Well yeah, but Coyote WAS hunting him for food
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  • 17
    probablyguilty1 - 17 hr. ago The Grinch. ↑ 1.1k Reply Maherdogg 16 hr. ago dem Whos.
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  • 18
    Wollah1997. 13 hr. ago Carrie. 456 Reply Share DoWeSellFrench Fries 13 hr. ago Carrie's mother was the real villain of that movie.
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  • 19
    ossified_twenties - 3 hr. ago Jigsaw, without a doubt. That man pitted beings, the vast majority of which were despicable, against themselves. His philosophy was wild and often grotesque, but there are people who have earned their own destiny hard.
    via u/ossified_twenties
  • 20
    Contribution Latter32 13 hr. ago The principal from ferris bulers day off. He thought Ferris was up to no good and he was correct lol 368 Reply Share Sage296 11 hr. ago He also could've been charged for animal cruelty and breaking & entering
    via u/ContributionLatter32
  • 21
    hopeisnotbread - 8 hr. ago Barbosa in Pirates of the Caribbean. My man just wanted to get his life back together, maybe eat an apple, maybe get a hook up. He's treated like a villain for being a...pirate?
    via u/hopeisnotbread
  • 22
    Traditional Carrot_3 12 hr. ago Goldmember, he was only being a regular Dutch person ↑ 30 ↓ Reply Share . WringedSponge 6 hr. ago Similar for Dr Evil. It was Belgians who those made him so evil.
    via u/Traditional_Carrot_3
  • 23
    spceheater 14 hr. ago Megamind 215 Reply Share Historical-Essay6116 13 hr. ago I was thinking this. Also when metroman took a step back for his mental health and some characters tried to view him as a villain, I still think he was right and I appreciate that the writers didn't make him apologize for making that choice
    via u/spceheater
  • 24
    tanginamokah 13 hr. ago Dr doofensmirch 180 ↓ Reply Share OnceABear 14 hr. ago "Perry the Platapus?!" .
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  • 25
    The5Virtues 14 hr. ago · edited 3 hr. ago Poison Ivy (when written coherently) is totally right. Corporations are a blight upon humanity and earth itself, and our species is absolute dog as sustainable living. We don't behave like a natural balanced part of our environment, we behave like a parasite, and until we learn to stop she's totally right to feel that a blend of sabotaging industrial complexes and culling their executive staffs are the only succesful means of curtailing the damage were c
    via u/The5Virtues
  • 26
    Mediocre_Scott. 13 hr. ago Count Dooku. The galactic republic was corrupt and ineffective. Trying to re established a republic at the end of ROTJ was a failure which lead to a new empire the galaxy was better served by a confederacy of independent systems. The Government closest to the people is best.
    via u/Mediocre_Scott
  • 27
    sad_dad_music 17 hr. ago. edited 17 hr. ago The EPA scientists from Ghost Busters. They were completely right the ghost busters I everything up. ↑ 522 Reply Share EdgelordZeta 17 hr. ago ESH If Peck hadn't shut the grid down, things would probably been OK. Sure, anything that contains ghosts and demons should have redundant Backups.
    via u/sad_dad_music
  • 28
    newagereject 17 hr. ago Jonas in Twister, he was a but they only hated hkm because he went corporate and took a government grant 113 Reply Share Fortunes Barnacle 16 hr. ago He did rip off Dorothy, but honestly Jo should have gotten a patent.
    via u/mewagereject
  • 29
    Pretorian24 8 hr. ago . Pierce Brosnans character in Ms. Doubtfire. He was a pretty nice dude and really cared for the new family. ↑ 33 ↓ Reply Share ChronoLegion2 - 5 hr. ago He also put up with the "nanny"s shenanigans
    via u/Pretorian24
  • 30
    Kroctopus 15 hr. ago . The careers from Hunger Games, they literally had to kill other people or else they would die 173 Reply Share HangryHufflepuff1. 13 hr. ago I think some of them had a little too much fun though. Maybe it's just the traumatic situation boggling their brains but most of them really seem to enjoy killing.
    via u/Kroctopus
  • 31
    milkyway_cj 9 hr. ago The hotel owner in Ocean's Eleven. Dude was getting his wife and money stolen from him. 25 Reply Share AcrolloPeed 3 hr. ago Yeah they never really established him as doing anything villainous. He was a pragmatic, no-nonsense dude in a cutthroat environment.
    via u/milkyway_cj
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    Cheezburger Image 9848525824
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